Our growing season is somewhat short here in Western Washington, and this year has been unusually wet. It seemed like Spring would never get here and the longer the rains went on the more hives that went under.
To combat this I decided to try making a more weather resistant hive. Normally hives are made from 3/4" pine or even plywood. What makes mine different is that I used 2 x 6 cedar, and then planed down to 1 1/4" in order to clean things up. The inside dimensions on mine will remain the same so that I can still use standard frames.
I also put in a viewing window. This will help for checking their status during the winter months without taking the top off and thereby cooling down the hive to dangerous levels.
I also put in a thermometer. It has a probe at the end of a wire with a digital readout mounted to the outside of the hive. This should be interesting and help to ascertain the health of the hive inside.
I recently made a video of a honey press where I took it apart to make another box for this hive. You can see that video here >>
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An extra box on the hive makes it look a little more...
stately perhaps. Room for more bees. And honey!
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![[IMG]](images/cedarbeehive2.jpg)